FAA Fines Boeing $2.75 Million For Installing
Non Approved Fasteners On The B777

By
Eddy Metcalf

July 28, 2013 - The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) is proposing a $2.75 million civil penalty
against Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit for
allegedly failing to maintain its quality
control system in accordance with approved FAA
procedures.

“Safety is our top priority and a robust quality
control system is a vital part of maintaining
the world’s safest air transportation system,”
said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“Airplane manufacturers must take prompt and
thorough steps to correct safety and compliance
problems once they become aware of them.”

In September 2008, Boeing discovered that it had
been installing nonconforming fasteners on its
model 777 airplanes. On October 2008, the FAA
sent Boeing a letter of investigation that
requested a response within 20 working days.

The Boeing 777 is a long-range wide-body
twin-engine jet airliner. It is the world's
largest twinjet and has a typical seating
capacity for 314 to 451 passengers, with a range
of 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles, depending on
the version. Commonly referred to as the "Triple
Seven", its distinguishing features include the
largest-diameter turbofan engines of any
aircraft, six wheels on each main landing gear,
a circular fuselage cross-section and a
blade-shaped tail cone.

Developed in consultation with eight major
airlines, the 777 was designed to replace older
wide-body airliners and bridge the capacity
difference between the 767 and 747. As Boeing's
first fly-by-wire airliner, it has
computer-mediated controls, it is also the first
entirely computer-designed commercial aircraft.

The FAA alleges that Boeing repeatedly submitted
action plans that set deadlines for the
accomplishment of certain corrective actions,
but subsequently failed to implement those
plans. The company implemented a plan to address
the fastener issue on Nov. 10, 2010, more than
two years after Boeing first learned of the
problem, “Manufacturers must make it a priority
to identify and correct quality problems in a
timely manner,” said FAA Administrator Michael
Huerta.

Boeing stopped using the nonconforming fasteners
after officials discovered the problem. However,
some of the underlying manufacturing issues
continued to exist until after the corrective
action plan was in place.

Boeing has
30 days from the receipt of the FAA’s civil
penalty letter to respond to the agency.